Breaking Down The Mets' Head-to-Head Matchups in 2021

Credit: Chris Simon

With the New York Mets watching the postseason like us after a disappointing 77-85 showing, this is the time of year where we dissect how they got to this point in about a million different ways.

Even before New York’s regular season was officially complete, I couldn’t help but begin looking at different situations that ultimately sealed the fate of this club. Let’s be honest, the changes in record between the first and second half, along with their home/road splits were just too eye-popping to not address as soon as possible.

Today’s focus will be how the Mets fared in various head-to-head matchups from April through the beginning of October when Game 162 was played. They’ll be broken up into four different categories, which include New York’s performance against teams in the NL West, NL Central, and NL East, along with interleague play.

NL West

Arizona Diamondbacks: 5-1

Colorado Rockies: 5-2

Los Angeles Dodgers: 1-6

San Diego Padres: 4-3

San Francisco Giants: 1-5

This was definitely a feast-or-famine situation for the Mets, especially when looking at when some of these matchups took place. What sticks out the most is how they performed against San Francisco and Los Angeles. It’ll be tough to forget that awful two-week stretch in August where New York won just twice in 13 straight contests against both of these clubs, which essentially put any hopes of making the playoffs to bed before it was mathematically true.

But when we ignore the Giants and Dodgers, the rest went pretty well, combining to go 14-4 against the Diamondbacks, Rockies, and Padres.

San Diego also ended up having a disappointing season, but when they faced one another seven times between June 3rd and June 13th, they were looking like a team destined for a return to October. As for Arizona and Colorado, their respective performances finished within the bottom tier of the National League. So, it was nice to see the Mets actually take advantage of those matchups, right?

NL Central

Chicago Cubs: 3-4

Cincinnati Reds: 3-3

Milwaukee Brewers: 2-4

St. Louis Cardinals: 2-5

Pittsburgh Pirates: 3-4

There was plenty of mediocrity to go around in these head-to-head matchups, with two of New York’s worst performances coming against playoff teams in Milwaukee and St. Louis. However, if there’s just one matchup that tells the whole story about this particular season, it has to be what they did against the Pirates.

This was one of those classic opportunities to pad stats and create some space in the standings while the Mets were holding on to first place in the National League East. After weathering the storm that was getting ravaged by injuries over the first three and a half months, New York’s reward was four games against Pittsburgh before the All-Star break and another three against them to start the second half. The Pirates owned the second-worst record in the Senior Circuit, losing 100-plus games for the first time since 2010.

So, naturally, the Mets didn’t capitalize on this opportunity, actually losing the season series to them. They couldn’t even find a way to string consecutive wins together, which was incredibly frustrating to watch.

NL East

Atlanta Braves: 9-10

Miami Marlins: 10-9

Philadelphia Phillies: 9-10

Washington Nationals: 11-8

Back in April on the eve of Opening Day, it wasn’t crazy to think the NL East would be a fight until the end with a number of teams duking it out against each other. The Mets performed like a .500 club throughout the year in this particular situation, and that’s how they ended up once the dust settled — with a 39-37 against their own division.

But once again, what jumps out here is just barely staying above water against the Marlins. This was a 95-loss team, and on paper, it’s a hypothetical opportunity to get some wins and put pressure on other clubs. Unfortunately, it was another chance wasted by New York, especially on the road. Of the 10 head-to-head games they played against Miami away from Citi Field, the Marlins emerged victorious seven times. In these 10 games, they held the Mets to two or fewer runs on five different occasions.

Divisional foes face one another enough times in a year that any club can have an issue with an opponent, but contenders figure out a way to get it done. The Mets didn’t do that.

Interleague

Baltimore Orioles: 3-1

Boston Red Sox: 0-4

New York Yankees: 4-2

Tampa Bay Rays: 0-3

Toronto Blue Jays: 2-1

After posting a 15-5 record in interleague play during the 2019 season, the Mets have put together a 9-11 mark over each of the last two seasons. New York’s matchups with Boston were interesting because of how similar and different they were. These squads met for a pair of two-game series — one in April and one in September. At the start of the year, the Mets got swept but limited the losing streak to three before finding success again. In September, losing those two games was the start of their second five-game losing streak over the span of two weeks.

Getting swept by the Rays also wasn’t fun in May because the final loss coincided with trips to the injury list an extended absences for both Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto. However, we can smile because that’s when the ReplaceMets were in full swing. Those guys were fun.

It’s always good to beat the Yankees, regardless of the situation. While it would’ve been nice to see the Mets turn their long hold on first place into a playoff berth, we can take some solace from this:

Think about it this way, Mets fans: Francisco Lindor’s third homer that Sunday night cost the Yankees one extra win, so they played tonight at Fenway instead of Yankee Stadium, so two of Giancarlo Stanton’s rockets were singles instead of homers, so now their season is over.

— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) October 6, 2021